Chapter 131: Magic Engineer Shops

Elinox had bought another snack, and he had no idea when she bought it. It was some kind of fried pastry with sugar scattered across the surface, and Ollie’s eyes moved toward it even though he still had meat in both hands.

"Try this. I had one before, and they’re good when they’re fresh."

Ollie’s face brightened. "Thank you, Big Sister!!! I want you and Big Brother to be together forever in the future so I can have snacks always!"

Several people walking near them looked over.

"What a cute little child! I love his green eyes!" an old woman said.

"Yeah, I want to pinch his cheeks. Is he brothers with the young man who’s carrying him? They kind of look similar in ways."

"But I agree that the beautiful young woman and that young man suit each other. They were like a match made in heaven!"

"I wonder if they had done that already. You know—"

A young woman blushed and slapped the back of the man who said that. "Pervert!"

Zishan nearly inhaled a piece of meat. He coughed into one hand while Elinox handed the pastry to Ollie as though she heard nothing from the people around them. And as though Ollie had said something completely ordinary.

She was getting far too used to this.

Zishan stared upward. "Ollie, where are you planning to put that? Both of your hands are already full."

Ollie looked down at his two skewers, then at the pastry Elinox was offering. He looked genuinely troubled as his eyelids trembled even a little.

After a few seconds, he pushed one of the skewers toward Zishan. "Big Brother, hold this."

Zishan accepted the skewer out of instinct, only realizing a second later that Ollie had already taken the pastry from Elinox.

He looked down at the meat in his hand. "Wait. That’s not what I—"

"Do you want one too?" Elinox asked, already reaching for another pastry from the stall.

Zishan looked at her. "No, I’m saying you’re making this worse."

"How?"

"He’s been eating since we left."

Ollie leaned over his head with the pastry half in his mouth. "I’m still hungry..."

"Of course, you are."

Elinox took her own pastry and glanced at Ollie. "He’s still growing. Besides, a little kid is supposed to have a good appetite."

"At this rate, he’s going to finish growing while sitting on my shoulders and break my neck."

Ollie looked down at him, then at the skewer Zishan was still holding. "You can eat that one, Big Brother."

"This was yours."

"Well," Ollie said as he puffed his cheeks. "I have this now"

Zishan stared at the pastry in Ollie’s hand, then gave up and took a bite from the skewer.

He chewed once, then again. "Why is this one better than mine?"

Ollie immediately looked pleased with himself, nodding heavily. "See?"

"Don’t ’see’ me. You didn’t cook it."

A few steps behind them, Ernest watched the exchange before looking toward Elinox, then back toward Zishan carrying Ollie.

Ernest gave a small nod to himself while looking between Zishan and Elinox.

Zishan caught it from the corner of his eye. "Why did you just nod like that?"

"Like what?"

"You know exactly what I mean, old man."

Ernest adjusted his sunglasses and kept walking. "I was thinking about something, but to think you’d dare call me an old man so casually..."

"Well, it’s not like it’s not real." Zishan shrugged. "Besides, we’re currently in disguise, so better make it realistic. But what are you thinking about?"

Ernest looked at Zishan, speechless. "Nothing you need to concern yourself with, kid."

Zishan narrowed his eyes at him. "That sounds even more suspicious."

Elinox was beside them eating her pastry, clearly paying more attention to the food than whatever Ernest was doing.

"Elinox, did you see that?"

"Hmm," she agreed, still munching food.

"And?"

She glanced at Zishan. "And he nodded."

"Why is everyone acting like I’m the strange one here?"

"Because you’re interrogating someone over a nod while carrying Ollie on your shoulders and holding two skewers," she said.

Zishan looked down at the skewer in his hand, then back at Ernest just in time to catch the Crown Marshal giving another faint nod.

"There! You did it again!"

Ernest turned his attention toward one of the shops ahead as if he had suddenly found its sign extremely interesting.

"Oh, fuck off. You’re definitely doing that on purpose now."

Ollie laughed above him and reached down for the second skewer.

Zishan immediately moved it out of reach. "No. This one’s mine now."

"But Big Brother—"

"You chose the pastry. Live with your decisions."

Elinox took another bite while Ernest kept walking ahead of them, and after glaring at the back of his head for another few seconds, Zishan finally gave up and bit into the skewer himself.

’Whatever. I’ll figure out what that was about later.’

Then, they continued deeper into the capital.

Zishan had already seen several parts of Olmost since arriving, though there was a difference between seeing a city while being dragged toward military work and actually walking through it with enough time to look around.

There were streets filled almost entirely with restaurants.

Others sold clothes, enchanted accessories, books, beast materials, potions and things Zishan could not identify without stopping to read the signs.

One area caught his attention enough that he slowed.

Magic Engineer shops lined both sides of the street.

Zishan had heard about Magic Engineers before and knew enough about the profession to understand what they could do, but seeing an entire part of the capital filled with their work was another thing.

Several shops displayed weapons outside.

There were swords with Mana pathways engraved through the metal, spears fitted with crystals close to the blade, bows made from materials that looked nothing like ordinary wood, and armor with small formations carved around the joints.

One shop had a sword being demonstrated near the window.

Zishan watched as Mana entered the handle and the blade separated into connected metal sections, extending outward before snapping back together again.

He slowed until he was barely walking. ’What the fuck...’

Elinox noticed where he was looking and asked him, "You like that?"

"That’s a sword that turns into a whip."

"Yes."

Zishan looked at her. "You said that like it’s normal."